Once satisfied that Rheidan had met his end, the hybrid prisoners stood around and just looked at me. They wanted something but I didn’t know what. Angel came up to me and said, “They know that you have the Artifact. They want you to return them back to the natural state.” Kira also looked at me with that same pleading in her eyes.

I delved deep inside myself and consulted with the Artifact. As I wondered if it could be done, the Artifact told me … no … it was not within its power to return the hybrids back to normal. The hybrids are a combination of science and magic. In order for the Artifact to accomplish the task, the bodies need to be separated into elemental and human.

As I looked around, I realized that the entire laboratory had been destroyed. There was no way that we would be able to do that separation, even if we knew how. There was no way to transform them. I could barely tell them that it wasn’t going to work.

Jakob turned to me and commented, “Well, not now, there isn’t. However, if we take his notes, maybe there is another wizard out there that could help. It’s not much of a chance but it is one.”